Twitter emerged as the frontrunner for criticism aimed at journalists after transcripts of recordings made by the income-tax department’s investigations unit of conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and influential journalists were published in Open and Outlook magazines Nov. 18.

Although many journalists were heard speaking to Ms. Radia on the tapes, public ire has focused on NDTV’s editor for English news, Barkha Dutt, and Hindustan Times columnist Vir Sanghvi, two of the country’s best-known journalists. Read More »

It generally pays to go second. On Tuesday night, NDTV journalist Barkha Dutt was fairly aggressive with the panel of editors there to quiz her on her journalistic propriety in the wake of the leak of her conversations with lobbyist Niira Radia. The verdict afterwards online (and on India Real Time) was that it was a lost opportunity.

NDTV journalist Barkha Dutt went on television last night to defend the taped conversations between her and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia. But after that hour-long roundtable debate with fellow news editors, which followed almost two weeks of hoopla on this topic, one basic thing remains unclear: What precisely is Ms. Dutt accused of doing wrong?

The allegations by her critics seem to be evolving over time, and some of the criticisms flying now seem much less shocking than when the tapes first emerged. Read More »

“One part of Journalism is always a consequence of someone else’s motive.”

So said Manu Joseph, editor of Open magazine, on Barkha Dutt’s show on the Niira Radia tapes Tuesday evening. India Journal writer Rupa Subramanya Dehejia wrote about the show this morning, to which Mr. Joseph sent us this response, which we are reproducing in full below:

I was surprised to read Rupa Subramanya Dehejia’s comment: ‘What was most striking was that Manu Joseph, editor of Open Magazine that carried the Niira Radia tapes story that set all this off, admitted that all journalists have a motive and his was selling more magazines.’ Read More »

Still fending off allegations surrounding her talks with a corporate lobbyist in the wake of leaked phone taps of their conversations, Barkha Dutt spoke for the first time on air on NDTV on Tuesday night about critics’ allegations against her.

NDTV

A screen grab from last night’s show on NDTV. Barkha Dutt spoke for the first time on the allegations against her on the Radia Tapes.

The program featured Ms. Dutt in a face-to-face discussion with a panel of eminent journalists, including Open Magazine’s Manu Joseph, whose publication first ran the story of the tapes Nov. 18. But it left many viewers unsatisfied and many questions unanswered, judging by comments made online. Read More »

The real story about the leaked Radia tapes is a newfound voice for Indian media: Twitter.

For the past two weeks, Twitter has been atwitter in India. The trending topics in India have been #mediamafia and #Barkhagate. The topic of concern: the perceived self-imposed censorship by the Indian media on a scandal involving two of their own.

On one side is India’s media establishment. On the other side are India’s social-media savvy young people.

Prashant Agrawal is a frequent contributor to India.WSJ.com and India Real Time. Follow him on Twitter @agrawalprashantRead More »

After two weeks of tweets but no public commentary, Barkha Dutt apparently by her own choice found herself on the opposite side of the desk and withstood fierce grilling from her journalistic peers in last night’s NDTV broadcast.

Screen grab of an online promo for tonight’s NDTV discussion on the Radia tapes, featuring Barkha Dutt and Manu Joseph.

Readers of India Real Time have commented several times that NDTV should devote air time to the Radia tapes or that the channel’s star journalist Barkha Dutt must dedicate an episode of her popular discussion show format “We the People” to the topic. Your request has been granted. Read More »

About India Real Time

India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.